Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,128 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 263 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.1% of Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its position in Microsoft by 1,316.7% during the first quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 85 shares of the software giant's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth $28,000. Tobam boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 15,400.0% during the first quarter. Tobam now owns 155 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, Newfound Research LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 25.4% during the second quarter. Newfound Research LLC now owns 296 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. 69.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.25, for a total value of $1,331,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 109,837 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,244,101.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Redburn Partners began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, June 29th. They set a "buy" rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. Moffett Nathanson began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 22nd. They set a "hold" rating and a $285.00 price target for the company. Itaú Unibanco began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, July 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $287.00 price target for the company. Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $310.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $319.68.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $242.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.36. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $219.13 and a fifty-two week high of $349.67.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The software giant reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.28 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $51.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.31 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.69% and a return on equity of 43.31%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 17th will be issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 16th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.73%.

Microsoft Profile

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Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.

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